Expanded Program On Immunization

Expanded Program on Immunization or EPI is a program in the Philippines designed to give vaccines to children to protect them from certain diseases. These vaccines include BCG(Bacillus of Calmente-Guerin), DPT(Diptheria, Pertussis, Tetanus), OPV(Oral Polio Vaccine), Hepatitis B, and Measles. Each vaccine can be given depending on the child's age. Some of the vaccines are given are given only once and some are given 3 times with different intervals.

Here's a table for the complete list of vaccines that is given to children for complete immunization.

Vaccine	Minimum Age at 1st dose	Number of doses	Minimum interval between doses	Rationale
BCG	Anytime after birth	1		To protect the person from acquiring Tuberculosis(TB)
DPT	6 weeks	3	4 weeks	Reduces the chance of severe pertussis, diptheria and tetanus
OPV	6 weeks	3	4 weeks	To protect the person from acquiring Poliomyelitis
Hepatitis B	6 weeks	3	6 weeks from 1st dose to 2nd dose; 8 weeks from 2nd dose to 3rd dose	Reduces the chance of being infected by Hepatitis B
Measles	9 months	1		Gives 85% protection against measles